1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein relate to an optical module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advancement in the technology of high-speed, high-volume communication networks and communication control equipment has prompted the wide-spread use of optical fibers for communication and transmission purposes. Generally, an optical transceiver for conversion between an electrical signal and an optical signal is used at the connection point between an optical fiber and a device. Such an optical transceiver has an optical module providing an optical waveguide between an optical fiber and a photoelectric conversion device.
Conventional optical modules are comprised of a large number of components, which requires a large number of production steps at the time of assembly. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 or 2, for example, requires steps of filling a groove for forming an optical waveguide with core material for forming an optical fiber core, applying an over-clad film on the groove which is filled with the core material, and curing with respect to the over-clad film.
Further, an optical module having a plurality of lenses may be mounted on a printed circuit board (“board”) on which photoelectric conversion devices are disposed. In such a case, misalignment of the optical module with respect to the set of photoelectric conversion devices ends up causing undesirable light loss. Similarly, displacement of lenses in the optical module from their intended positions also ends up causing the loss of light signals.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-20426    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-309113